Combined locking and supporting means for doors



; 11 y z a Nov. 30, 1937. A. HABERSTLLIMP COMBINED LOCKING ANDSUPPORTING MEANS FOR DOORS I Fi1ed March 11, 1935 Cal Patented Nov. 30,1937 UNITED STATES)PATENTOFFICEQ COMBINED LOCKING AND SUPPORTING ltIEANSFOR'DOORS Alfred Haberstump, Detroit, Mich." Application March 11 1935,Serial 'No.'10,555'

7 Claims. (01192-302) V The present invention relates to combinedlocking and supporting means for doors and particularly to means' ofthis type adapted for use in connection with motor vehicle doorswhich,as is well known, tend to vibrate in the plane of the door as thevehicle to which they are attached moves along a highway. The inventioncomprises an improvement upon the combination lock and door retainerdisclosed in Patent No. 1,908,387, issued May 9, 1933 to J. A. Watson.

In the patent just mentioned is disclosed a combination with door anddoor frame members of a tongue or retainer rigidly fixed upon one ofsaid members and a latch bolt and retainer receiving means mounted uponthe other of said members. When the door is closed the tongue orretainer is not only engaged by the latch bolt but is also grippedbetween opposed resiliently supported jaws for the purpose ofpreventingthe door from vibrating relatively to the door frame. Thenecessity of providing entirely separate locking and door supportingmeans was thereby avoided, reducing the cost of manufacture andinstallation of these devices and effecting a considerablesimplification in the door and 'door frame construction.

In accordance with the present invention the severalelements of thegeneral combination set forth in the Watson patent just referred to arerearranged so that the benefits of such construction may be realized,together with additional benefits and advantages. Thus the wedgingmeans, sometimes designated the tongue or door supporting member, isdifferently shaped and supported in a somewhat different manner so thatthe aperture provided therein for the reception of the end'of the latchbolt is entirely enclosed and presents no corners or edges which mightbe engaged by the clothes of a person entering or leaving the car doorwhen open. Again the wedging means is designed as an elongated wedgingmember disposed substantially at right angles to the plane of the door,when the door is closed, and is secured at its inner end upon the doorframe or other supportin ggnember, being unattached laterally to thedoor frame so that all of its side surfaces are exposed.

The wedge receiving means is so designed that a portion thereof liesbehind the wedging means when the door is closed or, in other words, ishooked around this wedging means so that, in the event that there is anytendency on the part of the door frame members to separate, the wedgingmeans in cooperation with the wedge receiving means and door will act asa tension member preventing such separation. This will preventaccidental unlatching of the door when the motor vehicle to which it isattachedis in transit due to failure of the body to remain rigid, whichsometimes happens with other types of securing means. Again, the wedgereceiving meansincludes resiliently supported jaws and the wedging 7means isclamped between these jaws.. Preferably, although notnecessarily, resilient material extends almost completely'aroundthewedging 'means when the door is closed, this material being preferablyrubber, and the. latch bolt is strongly spring pressed intolatchingposition in I to one skilled in the art. One form of the in vention isdisclosed in the accompanying drawing byway of example but it'will beappreciated that in adapting. the inventionto vehicle bodies whichdiffer in design, minor changes may be made to accommodate the doorlocking and supporting means to such design, without departure from theinvention. Itis immaterial whether the wedging meansgbe upon thedoor'frame or upon the door and the wedge receiving means upon the othermember, but in the general case the wedge receiving means and the latchbolt will be placed upon the door, and the wedging means upon the doorframe, as illustrated in the'drawingt.

In the drawing:

Figure 1* is a view, partially inside elevationand partially in sectionof the wedging andwedge receiving means in interengaging relationship;

Figure 2 is a section on line 2-2 of'Figure 1, portions of the doorbeing illustrated inrather diagrammatic fashion; i

Figure 3 is a section on line 3-3 of Figure" 1; Figure 4 is aperspective view of the ,wedglng means and itsattachment plate; and j Ia Figure 5 is a section through a slightly modified form of locking andsupporting means. r i V V V A portion of the frame ofadoor is indicatedat F in the, drawing and portion of the door}it-- self indicated at D,it being understoodthat the nermost end integral with a supporting angleplate II which may be rigidly attached to the door frame member byscrews l2 or other securing devices, or by welding. Wedging means l0tapers outwardly, both vertically and horizontally, and preferably hasfour distinct side surfaces facing in different directions; upper andlower faces i3 and M and side faces' lfii-and l6. Sectionsthrough thewedging means parallel to the plane of the door when closed willpreferably be square or rectangular. The upper and lower faces I; and I4comprise the principal faces or surfaces which are resiliently engagedby the wedge receiving means but therear face 16 may likewise beengaged. The forward face I5 is recessed to provide an aperture H forthe reception of the end of the latch bolt. It will be appreciated thatthe exact configuration of the wedging means will be varied but in everyinstance it will have upper and lower surfaces for engagement with thewedge receiving means, a laterally opening recess for the reception of alatch bolt, and a surface such as l6, rearwardly facing, and which ispreferably engageable by portions of the wedge receiving means forreasons heretofore set forth. Y I

The wedge receiving-means, preferably mounted upon the door, comprisessuitable housing or casing members for supporting resilient elementssuch as springs or the like, these elements preferably being rubberblocks such as indicated at 20 and 2|. The mutually facing surfaces ofthe rubber blocks are covered withprotective material,preferably-relatively inclined metallic plates 22 and 23 which may beconveniently formed as portions of a single continuous generally U-shaped member, as shown in Figure 3. This metallic member preferably hasa third wedglng means engaging surface 24 for engagement with the rearsurface. iii of the wedging means and 50 portion 24 is backed by arubber block 25.

A latch bolt is indicated at 26 and a spring normally urging the latchbolt to lockingposition at 21. Any suitable means for retracting thebolt may be provided such as the customary manually operable rock shaftand operating arm, this latter being shown in Figure 1 in dotted linesat 28.

As the door is moved toward closed position the inclined face 26"of thelatch bolt will contact with the rounded end of the: wedging means W andthe latch boltwill be forced rearwardly against the action of spring 21as its end rides along the face l5 of the wedging means. Finally, theend of the latch bolt registered with the recess IT and the spring 21becomes active to thrust the latch bolt into this recess, thus lockingthe door in closed position. Prior tothe time that the door reachesfully closed position, however, the 'upper, lower, and rear surfaces,l3, l4 and [6 of the wedging means, have come into contact with themetallic members 22, 23 and 24, which may be designated wedge receivingjaws, and

these'jaws are laterally deflected by the wedging means as it moves tofinal position, compressing the'rubber backing blocks 20, 2| and25. Whenthe door is completely closed, therefore, the wedging means I0 isresiliently clamped not only between the upper and lower jaws 22 and 23but be tweem the jaw 24 and the spring pressed latch bolt 26. It istherefore resiliently held against vibration vertically and horizontallyand may not block 25 may be omitted if desiredas shown in Figure 5,particularly in the case of very well built bodies, but I preferablymake use of this additional resilient supporting means. The jaw 24ispreferably provided in any event, even if not resiliently supported,inasmuch as by t eengagement of this jaw, or its equivalent,with theface I6 of'the wedging means, the door is locked to the door, frame insuchmanner' that the latch bolt 26 cannot become disengaged from therecess l I owing tospreadingof the pillars of the frame.

The resilient supporting means may be formed in various waysand mayinclude metallic springs or a combination of metallic" springs andrubber blocks. be formed individually and be shaped in various ways.That form of the invention disclosed in the drawing, however, ispreferred inasmuch as the several parts are of simple nature,inexpensive to produce, and may be readilyassembled together and appliedrespectively to the door and door rattle even when the vehicle to'whichit is at- I The jaws" 22, 23 and 24 may, likewise I 1. In a combinedlocking and supporting means 1 the reception of the end of the latchbolt which recess opens only toward the latch bolt. I

2. In a combined locking and supporting means for doors, I thecombination with door and door I frame members, of a latch bolt, andspaced metallic jaws mounted on one of said-members together withmeansfor resiliently opposing'separation of said jaws, and a single elementpositioned on and rigidly secured to the other member 7 and adapted tobe engaged by said jaws and latch 'bolt when thedoor is closed, saidelement having oppositely facing relatively inclined surfaces forengagement by said jaws and a recess for the receptionof the end of thelatch bolt.

3. In a combined locking and supporting means for doors, the combinationwith. door and door frame members, of a latch bolt and spaced metallicjaws mounted on one of said members, together with means for resilientlyopposing separation of said jaws, and a single element positioned on andrigidlysecured to the othermemher and adapted to be engaged by said jawsand latch bolt when-the door is closed, said element tapering outwardlyfrom its support and having a lateral aperture for the reception of thelatch bolt.

4. The combination for use with a door frame,

member and a door member hinged to swing laterally with respect to theframe member, of

. an element rigid with and projecting from one of said membersandadapte'd to enter a recess in the second member when the door isclosed,

said element having generally flat relatively inmeans to tightly engagethe surfaces of said element and a latch bolt to project into saidrecess.-- 6. The combination witha tapering element or clined upper andlower surfaces and said second member being provided with relativelymovable metallic parts to engage and resiliently support said surfaces,means yieldingly supporting said parts, and means to lockingly engagesaid element.

.5. The combination for use with a door frame second member beingprovided with resilient wedge adapted to be secured to and to projectfrom a door frame, said element being substantially rectangular in alltransverse sections, of a resilient wedge receivingmeans adapted to be Isecured upon 'adoor, the wedge being resiliently gripped by said meanson three angularly disposed sides when the door is closed. 1

7. The combinationset forth in claim 6 in which a spring pressed latchbolt is also mounted on the door which lockingly engagesthe wedge whenthe door is closed, said bolt coacting with said means indamping'vibrationsof the door.

